CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, June 16: A total of 372 shopkeepers from Atal Vendor Market are on an indefinite strike after Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) ordered them to remove external lights from their allotted shops.
According to RMC, the external lights which were installed by the shopkeepers consume more electricity and the monthly bill has been increasing due to it. The step has been taken with regard to the electricity shortage that the city is facing.
However, the shopkeepers have requested RMC that it is almost impossible to sell clothes and other products without proper lights and they do require the use of external light. Since the RMC denied their request, they have been on strike and will continue to do so, as per the vendors.
Manoj Kumar, one of the shop owners in the Atal Vendor Market has said that RMC is not doing proper maintenance of the market and the shopkeepers themselves pay the expenses for maintenance.
“It has been three years since we have moved to the building provided by RMC but there are a lot of issues which we are facing. If there is any maintenance work like cleaning of toilets and other things then we only contribute a certain amount and make sure the work is done,” he said.
The shopkeepers added that for vendors like them ‘Jo dikhta hai, woh bikta hai’ and if there is no proper light in the market then customers will not buy anything from them.
They even raised the issue of 2-in-1 and 3-in-1 allotment of shops to the vendors where 2 or 3 different vendors are allotted the same plot and have to operate there. They added that RMC had told them that the issue would be resolved but it has been more than 3 years.
